the gospel
Nothing compares to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing thrills the heart like the good news of God's salvation. Nothing excites the mind like the promise of eternally enjoying the riches of God's glory. Nothing energizes the will like the prospect of beholding God’s beauty forever. Nothing comforts the soul more like trusting in God's grace. The gospel is all we need. It transforms our heart. It renews our mind. It conforms our will. It nourishes our soul. It regenerates our lives. It is our clarity. It is our sanity. It is our remedy. Nothing compares to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The entire story of the Bible, from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21, is about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The grand narrative of Scripture is thoroughly about the glory of God’s grace. Every book, every chapter, every verse has been crafted by God to reveal the majesty of His salvation. Each and every stroke of the pen was divinely directed to tell us about God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness, and our need for a Savior. The words of Scripture are inspired by God to display the Person and work of the Son of God. The entirety of the Bible is entirely about the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.
Seeing the gospel on every page of the Bible is not innate ability. It requires training. Admittedly, there are some places in Scripture in which the gospel seems less clear. But when we begin to put in the time to study God's Word something amazing takes place: we begin to see the beauty of the gospel on every page. We begin to see the unfolding of the story of God's glorious grace. So why not begin our training with "In the beginning"?
The Book of Genesis is of paramount significance. First of all, Genesis sets the stage for understanding the rest of Scripture. It provides the theological undergirding for the Bible. We could go so far as to say that without Genesis a Christian worldview would not be possible. Secondly, Genesis sets the stage for the future. Many people simply view Genesis as a book about the past when in fact it points to the future. In other words, the Book of Genesis is prophetic. It is eschatological in its perspective. Genesis is as much concerned about the “end” as it is about the “beginning.” Though the Book of Genesis begins with “In the beginning,” it has the end in mind. Thus, Genesis sets the stage for the story of the gospel: the fulfillment of God’s plan to secure a people for His own possession.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters – Genesis 1:1-2, NASB
Genesis 1:1-2 provides the context by which we are to read, understand, and apply the Bible. The words “In the beginning” illumine ALL of Scripture. These first three words of the Bible shed light on how we are to read God’s Word. Since the purpose of Scripture is to explain, describe, and define the gospel, then “In the beginning” also serves to explain, describe, and define the gospel. What is exciting is that we can grow in our knowledge of the gospel by beginning to at grasp at the truth contained “In the beginning.” So how does Genesis 1:1-2 help us understand the gospel?
From the very first verse of the very first book of the Bible a picture is drawn: God is THE Transcendent Creator. This is the cornerstone of biblical revelation. This is the foundational truth upon which all that we know to be true hangs. This is the primary truth which illumines everything else in Scripture. To miss that God is the Transcendent Creator will result in a terrible misunderstanding of His gospel. We have to note that before we know God as Judge or King or Father or Savior, we know Him as Creator. Before we know that God is holy, loving, or wrathful, we learn that He is omnipotent.
That God is the Author of salvation is rooted in the fact that God is the Author of creation. What qualifies God to be our Savior is that He is our Creator. These are two sides of the same coin—inseparable and interdependent. If God is not our Creator, then He cannot be our Savior. Only the all-powerful transcendent Creator has the authority to be our all-powerful Savior.
The words “In the beginning” provide amazing insight into the nature of God. The consider the fact that there was once a “time” when there was no time. In other words, God existed before "time." This is the truth with which Scripture begins. What does this reveal about our Creator? It reveals that God exists outside of time. Unlike man, God is not bound by time. He exists on a vastly different plane, sphere, and dimension than we do. While we are bound by time in that we only exist in the present and can only relate to things in terms of our temporal experience (past, present, and future), God stands outside of time. He exists in the "eternal now," knowing and experiencing all things simultaneously and in their completion. Thus, the words “In the beginning” emphatically declare that God is completely, totally, and utterly OTHER than us. He is a Being infinitely greater and vastly different than we.
The next words we read are: “God created the heavens and earth.” Not only did God exist before time, but He also existed before the universe. Just like He existed before "time," our Creator exited before matter and energy. The universe, along with everything in it, is not eternal. Only God is eternal. God alone has always existed and will always exist for He alone is everlasting. Secular scientists (materialists/naturalists), Buddhists, Mormons, etc. argue that the universe (matter and energy) are eternal. But that is not what Scripture teaches. The universe came into existence exclusively at the request of the Transcendent Creator. If not for God literally creating the heavens and the earth, nothing apart from Him would exist. Truly, our God is the transcendent, omnipotent Creator.
The phrase “the heavens and the earth” is a comprehensive phrase which summarizes that God created EVERYTHING. Make note of the fact that God did not use preexisting matter and energy to make the heavens and earth. Rather, God created everything out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo). Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” NOTHING exists that was not personally created by God. Only God Himself is self-existing and eternal. He is the transcendent, omnipotent Creator.
The Hebrew word which we translate “created” is a verb which is exclusively used in Scripture with God as the subject. What we read about in Genesis 1:1 is the exclusive act action of our transcendent Creator. God worked alone. Single handedly, He created everything ex nihilo (out of nothing). He required no help in making the heavens and the earth and everything in them. And having no help in creating the heavens and the earth, God will have no rival in ruling over the heavens and the earth. Thus, our transcendent, omnipotent Creator is also our sovereign Ruler.
In order to know the gospel (the good news of salvation) we must know something about the Author of that gospel. That is why Genesis 1:1 is so significant. Here we learn that God is Supreme, Self-Existent, and Omnipotent. Here we learn that God is the transcendent Creator. Here we learn that God is the sovereign Ruler. Here we learn that God is completely, totally, and utterly OTHER than we us. Here we learn that God is well beyond our capacity to fully know and understand. If we spend every moment from now through all of eternity we will barely scratch the surface of who God is. That is our God!
What does this tell us about the gospel? Before time, matter, and energy, before the heavens and the earth, before all of creation, God existed in perfect and glorious majesty. He lacked nothing. However, He chose to create something outside of Himself. The Infinite chose to create the finite. The Eternal chose to create the temporal. Why? God's desire is to pour Himself and His glorious love into something other than Himself. Prior to creation, the Triune God eternally directed His glorious love toward the members of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit existed in a beautiful relationship in which all three members of the Trinity continuously poured out their glorious love toward one another. It was a perfect outpouring of love. Yet God chose to create something outside of Himself to receive and experience the glory of His love.
That God created everything out of nothing reveals that God worked with intention. That He created time, matter, and energy ex nihilo indicates that creation exists with a purpose. Creation does not simply exist. God did not create the universe just for the sake of it. On the contrary, God created everything with a goal in mind. Creation has a purpose for existing. That creation wasn’t and then was reveals that it has a telos (an intended end). So what is the end game? What is the purpose of creation? The ultimate telos of God’s creative activity is relational love. In other words, the reason God created everything was to have a people who would be recipients of Himself and His glorious love. The Transcendent, Infinite, and Eternal Creator desired to share His glory with us—the finite, the temporal, the created.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” in order to have a people for His own possession. Genesis 1:1 sets God’s agenda: a people set apart to enjoy Him and be enjoyed by Him for all eternity. Jeremiah 31:33 declares the divine plan clearly: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people." This is the gospel! From the very beginning God has been working to bring about the climax of creation—a people set apart to be recipients of the riches of His eternal grace. Everything He has done since “In the beginning,” is doing in the present, and will do for all of eternity is fulfill the telos of creation: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Why did God create? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why did God show mercy in the Garden of Eden? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be Why did God make a covenant with Abraham? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be Why did God make a covenant with Moses and Israel? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why did God establish Israel in a land flowing with milk and honey? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why did God establish the throne of King David as an everlasting throne? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why did God send prophet after prophet to Israel? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why did God send His Son to earth? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why was Jesus obedient to death, even death on a cross? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why did Jesus die to pay for our sin? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why did Jesus burst forth from the tomb as the first fruits of the resurrection? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why is Jesus currently growing His church? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Why is Jesus coming back for His church? Because of His desire: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Everything has been orchestrated by God to secure a people for His own possession. God's desire is relational love: a people to enjoy Him and to be enjoy by Him for all eternity. This is God's heart. This is God's will. And nothing will thwart His plan - not the devil and his demons, not sin, not death - nothing will destroy God's desire to enjoy a loving relationship with His people. Why? Because He is the all-loving, transcendent, sovereign Creator who will stop at nothing to ensure that what He has begun will be accomplished. This is why the words of Jesus on the cross are a shout of victory: "It is finished!" Our sin, wickedness, and rebellion threatened God's plan, but the Son of God stepped into time, took on flesh, and paid the penalty for our sin. And in so doing, Jesus guaranteed the fulfillment of God's plan so that now all who confess and repent of their sin and call on the name of Jesus Christ for salvation become part of the people of God. By the riches of God's grace through faith in Person and work of the Son of God sinners become saints. Because of the substitutionary death of Jesus on our behalf we, the fallen finite, are lifted to enjoy a relationship with the Infinite. And as a result, those who trust in Jesus will forever "dwell in the house of the LORD," "behold the beauty of the LORD (Psalm 27:4), and experience "the immeasurable riches of His [God's] grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). This is the gospel, and nothing compares to it.
What do we learn about God and the gospel in Genesis 1:2? Here we are given a description of the world prior to God’s renovation. In Genesis 1:1 God created all the raw materials of the universe. Now in Genesis 1:2, God begins to assemble the raw materials into His work of art. He begins to craft, mold, and sculpt His masterpiece.
That “the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” signifies God’s personal touch. He is not leaving what He made in Genesis 1:1 up to its own doing. God is not hoping that time, heat, pressure, randomness, mutation, etc. will result in an orderly, beautiful creation. Instead, God is the Craftsman who personally furnishes and decorates His creation.
Specifically, we are told here that it is the Holy Spirit who is actively working in creation. Isn't it amazing that in only the second verse of the Bible God is already disclosing something about the Godhead? While we cannot ascertain from Genesis 1:2 alone that God is Triune in nature, we are already receiving revelation as to His plurality. We learn from the rest of Scripture that God is one but that He exists in Three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Holy Trinity is fully God and equally God, and each possesses all the attributes of God.
The doctrine of the Trinity is of fundamental necessity to a right understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, a denial of the Godhead is a denial of the gospel of salvation. What distinguishes biblical Christianity is the Trinity. From the very first chapter of Scripture, God begins to disclose His plurality because the nature of His plurality is paramount to grasping the good news of redemption. The Father (God) sent the Son (God) to die on a cross for our sins. It was through the power of the Holy Spirit (God) that Jesus (God) was resurrected. And now the Holy Spirit (God) dwells within believers. In the same way in which all three Persons of the Trinity were uniquely active in creation, all three Persons are uniquely active in our salvation. All the Persons have one agenda: "I will be their God and they shall be My people."
Nothing compares to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing compares to coming to the realization that the all-powerful, transcendent, sovereign Creator desires to a love relationship with us. It humbles. It fills us with gratitude and joy. It overwhelms our awe and wonder. And it compel us to share the good news with others. The story is not over. God desires for more and more people to rejoice in the worlds of Jeremiah 31:33 - "I will be their God and they shall be My people."
